Released about two years ago, Julian Perretta's debut album 'Stitch me up', was the result of a long and successful formative period initiated in his teens. The young English prodigy was already sharing the stage with Mark Ronson or Beyoncé when his peers were still at school. The twenty-something singer's first album proved impressively mature and its irresistible first single Wonder why soon topped international charts and radio airplay. Needless to say, Perretta's appeal to female fans also rocketed skywards.

A perfect calling card, 'Stitch me up' deftly combined various influences, personal (his father, a well-informed amateur musician, fed him a diet of The Kinks, Led Zeppelin and 70s soul music) and generational (English pop and American college-rock of the 90s and 2000s). But what might have been a starting point for others was for Julian a mere inventory of his first musical obsessions. This debut album, followed by some 200 shows during a pan-European tour (culminating in a grand finale at the Olympia in Paris), is now a thing of the past. While the music has not lost any of its passion and energy, it is nevertheless the product of a bygone era, of 20th-century recording studios, compositional processes and sonic concepts.

To quote one of his heroes - Marc Bolan of T. Rex - Julian is a " 21st-century Boy ". So it was time for him to consider the present and the future instead of updating yesterday's music fashion. His second album, 'The Game', is bound to surprise or even disconcert all those who expected another Wonder why or a comfortable sequel to 'Stitch me up'. With its aggressive electro sound and catchy anthemic chorus, 'Generation X', the first single, sets the tone of a determinedly futuristic album conceived as a manifesto for the 2010s, for his generation.

In order to carry out his own personal revolution, Julian Perretta embarked on a headlong adventure that many would have thought totally insane. He simply moved to Los Angeles, although he did not know anyone there. Trusting his extraordinary power of conviction, he managed to gain the interest of today's top producers and most sought-after composers and songwriters. With Justin Timberlake's recent successful career change in mind, plus the experience he had acquired through his first album, Julian knew that he and the leading figures of the musical mainstream would be speaking on the same wavelength.

His master move was to hire Jamaican-born Claude Kelly, one of today's most prolific American songwriters. With him, it became possible to play 'The Game'. Kelly, who has written numerous hits for the likes of Michael Jackson, Christina Aguilera, Akon or Britney Spears, immediately caught Julian's intentions and wrote custom-made songs with sophisticated melodies and heartfelt lyrics. His collaboration with award-winning songwriter Cathy Dennis ('Toxic' for Britney or 'Can't get you out of my head' for Kylie Minogue, a.o.) provided Julian with a solid base for an urban, sensual, superior style of writing that perfectly matched the young artist's wish to combine the best of pop with the energy of dance music and the art of hip-hop. This explosive alchemy acts like burning kerosene on titles such as Naked, Buzzed with you or Best friend. That was exactly what Julian Perretta needed to move on and reach other spheres, perhaps less comfortable but so much more exciting. Master mixer Manny Marroquin (Kanye West, Usher, Alicia Keys), added the finishing touch to the album. Yet, for all this stellar cast around him, Julian had everything perfectly under control and realized the album of his dreams.

The songs on the first album were those of a 16-yr old - full of feeling but lacking in vivo experience. The new titles echo the storms and joys of adult life and of going beyond limits. They speak of the ambiguity of human relationships in an ultra-connected world that can prove devastating at times. Perretta does not beat around the bush when dealing with toxic love relationships ('I'm in love', 'Acid'), or hopeless sex addictions (Naked) and various temptations one sometimes yields to without resistance, just for the taste of danger and the fun of a short-lived thrill. More poker than badminton, The Game is an album with a sense of urgency and exhilaration. Yet it has its moments of bliss: listen to We don't need a love song, a sparkling title bathed in soul, or Accomplice, Julian's homage to the retro sound of the 80s in England, with the likes of Duran Duran or the Pet Shop Boys.

Julian wanted a cover to match the spirit of 'The Game', between games of seduction and dangerous games, so he hired English graphic wiz Jam Sutton to design the album cover. Inspired by Pop Art and Surrealism, the artist's work is as stunning and innovative as the album itself.

Get ready for the game - and the party.